Coming To Blows
by Norah Rose
Summary: That fight we're supposed to see...


**Author's Note: **This story is what happens when I get angry. I've been in a mood today. The kind of mood that makes me want to attack someone. Not a great mood. Rather than be a psycho and actually hit someone, I decided to write my version of the fight that I've heard we'll be seeing. Enjoy!

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><p>Richard Castle sat in the waiting room of the hospital in anguish. His hands fell into his hair and raked it away from his face. His suit was ruffled and messy. His appearance was far from his usually well-kept look.<p>

The blood that stained his hands served as a constant reminder as to why he was here. When Kate had fallen to the ground he had cradled her gently in his arms, panicking as the blood spread like a deep red flower across the front of her shirt. She was beautiful, even in that moment. It was the kind of beautiful tragedy Castle would usually be writing. Blood coated his hands as he came to his senses and applied pressure to her wound.

Going to the bathroom to wash the blood away wasn't an option. His legs were useless. The chair where he sat was all he could focus on. Trying to do anything else was too much.

And in a way he felt that washing away the blood was washing away her as well. As if by having the reminder on his hands, he was somehow helping her. Rick clasped his hands together and leaned into them.

Across the room, Lanie and Esposito sat huddled close, hands held tightly together as if without the grip, they might lose each other. Ryan sat beside the two. Deep bags were clear under his eyes as he blinked away sleep.

They had followed the ambulance to the hospital. Castle had caught a ride with Lanie after begging Martha to take Alexis home, despite the fact that the girl's eyes shone with tears as she pleaded to go with him. On impulse Castle had wanted to ride in the ambulance with Kate. He didn't want to part with her, even for the short ride, but Jim was her father. If anything ever happened to Alexis, Rick knew he would **need **to be with her. As a father, Castle let Jim take the ride.

Jim Beckett now sat alone in the far corner. He had nodded gravely at Castle when he'd gotten to the hospital, but not a word had been uttered. Tears had fallen from his eyes when the doctor had given them the first news on Kate, but his face was stoic now, strong for his daughter.

Beckett had been in surgery for 2 hours. The last news that her waiting friends and family had received had been grave. She was hanging on, but barely. The bullet had entered near her heart and the bleeding was serious. Surgery to stop it was mandatory. There was no other, easier option.

Rick was distraught. That was the simplest way to put it. Images of Kate lying on the ground bleeding refused to leave his head. The only thing he could do was pray for her to live. He needed her to live. A life without her now was unfathomable. There was a future that she needed to be alive for, a future for the two of them that was yet unexplored. They deserved to have it, to explore it together. It wasn't fair for her to be taken from him before they had that chance.

Castle's thoughts flickered momentarily when Josh, Beckett's previously absent boyfriend entered the room. He worked in this hospital. It had been hours and this was the first he'd come to wait for Kate. Anger filled the writer in a way that he'd never before experienced.

Kate could be dying. His partner could be _dying_, and her boyfriend didn't care enough to sit in the waiting room and be here for her. In that instant, Rick, who had never really been a fighter, wanted more than anything to hit the man.

In what might easily have been his greatest example of self-restraint ever, he remained seated, breathing deeply and focusing his thoughts on Kate. She wouldn't want them fighting, especially now. There were more important things at hand.

"Tell me what happened." Josh said as he filled the seat directly next to Castle.

"She got shot," he replied blankly, his voice dripping with thick venom that he was scarcely heard with. He wouldn't hit him, but that didn't mean he had to be particularly polite.

"I know _that_," Josh snapped. "How the hell did this happen at a funeral? I thought you two were "partners". That was always her excuse for the time you two spent together. She always said…"

"We **are** partners," Castle interrupted. Kate was alive, damn it. He couldn't listen to Josh talking about her in the past tense. He took a deep breath and tried to regain his composure.

Josh was clearly shaken up. Castle could see that. Everyone was shaken up. Although he was typically cold, he had never been so blatantly rude. It was understandable. Castle was finding it hard to keep patience too. He was able to put things in perspective, and ignore the dark look Josh was currently giving him as he geared up to explain to Josh exactly what had occurred at the funeral.

Josh spoke suddenly, taking away Rick's chance to speak. "The hell you are _partners_. Just go ahead and admit that you're after her. Everyone knows it already."

Castle stared at his hands. He was twisting them together tightly, trying desperately to continue hiding the rage that threatened to bubble up and show itself.

The waiting room had gone quiet. Everyone's eyes were glued to the two men. Under normal circumstances someone would step in. Lanie or Esposito would surely tell them that now wasn't the time, but everyone was frozen in shock, as if they'd been waiting for the confrontation and now that it had arrived, they couldn't think to stop it.

"Josh, sit down." Rick said quietly as the doctor took a stand in front of him. He raised his hand to motion towards the seat but Josh took it as a sign of aggression and took a step away.

With a glance at the worried faces of his friends in the waiting room, Rick could see that this wasn't accomplishing anything. "Let's just step outside and talk," he said, standing and turning towards the door.

It really was ridiculous that he was being forced to be the voice of reason here. That was Beckett's job. Thinking of Beckett, lying on the cold table in surgery, sent a sharp pang to his heart.

Suddenly his thoughts were gone as a fist connected with his face, knocking him back against the wall that he'd been sitting against. He stumbled over the chair and looked up in shock to find Josh's hand advancing towards him again.

Ignoring the throbbing pain on the left side of his face, Castle, swiftly as he could, dodged Josh's hand. He brought his fist up to connect with Josh's nose and felt a mixture of guilt and triumph as he heard a promising crack. Josh was able to get another hit in, this time directly on his eye, before strong hands were pulling the men apart.

Ryan and Esposito had jumped to attention when they'd seen a physical issue starting. Esposito was using all his weight to hold back Josh, while Ryan only had to place a hand on Castle's shoulder.

The writer hadn't wanted this in the first place. He'd never been the type to throw punches and the blood pouring from Josh's nose was enough to make him cringe. His own face pulsed terribly and his eye was swelling rapidly. His vision was blurred and he could tell already that a horribly telling black eye was forming.

His thoughts raced back to Kate as he imagined trying to explain this to her. She would be so angry, so disappointed, and there was no hiding it.

As soon as Josh had regained composure he stormed out of the waiting room without so much as a word. Castle was left dumbfounded, feeling the eyes of everyone in the room on him.

"Bro, you okay?" Esposito asked. Ryan's hand was still firm on Castle's shoulder, only now it remained as pure support.

"I'm just gonna… wash up," he said, hurrying out to the nearest bathroom. He found that his legs were working again. The shame of standing in the middle of the room, all eyes on him, was too much.

In the bathroom, Castle allowed himself to collapse against the sink. He leaned over, peering at his face in the mirror. Bruises were already forming. His eye was swollen. He looked terrible.

As he raised a hand up to gingerly press at his cheek, the blood on his hands brought him back to what was important. Kate was hurt. Terribly. She could be dying. It didn't matter to Castle at all that she might be angry.

It didn't even matter if she never spoke to him again. It would hurt like hell, but if she lived, he would give up everything.

Despite the trying events of the day, tears never fell from Castle's eyes. He was empty. There were no tears. Beckett would be okay. She **had **to be okay.

The man ran a hand through his hair before deciding that it didn't matter anyway. He headed back to the waiting room, dreading the looks he was sure to receive.

When he entered the room, everyone was standing together. Jim was noticeably absent. Instead of commenting on his appearance, or on the fight, Lanie spoke quietly.

"She's awake."

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>I'm not sure if I'll continue this. I do want to write Kate's reaction once hearing about the fight. I don't know. Perhaps. Everything usually depends on the feedback I get, so tell me what you all think. Thanks always for reading and reviewing.


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